GAMES ?

We are forming The Royston Disc Golf Club in o'course, Royston Ga.We play Sunday doubles for no charge now, just braging rights. Thought, are their different disc golf games a group can play other than doubles ?

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Though they are variations of doubles..there's best shot, worst shot, and alternate shot. They all make things a little more interesting. Other than that I can only think of the Ript or Ript revenge cards.

This object of the game in string golf is the same as regular play, except that each player or team gets a certain amount of string that he can use to lengthen his throw. Ideally, he would use it to lengthen the length of a putt so that he lowers his score by a stroke.

Sorry Dude

This variation gives each player in the group a certain number of "Sorry Dudes". He uses a Sorry Dude to force another player in the group to throw again, ideally after he has thrown a good throw. I have seen players ace a hole and then have to throw again because someone said Sorry Dude. This format can be used in individual play as well as team play. If the announced rules included it, it could even be used to permit a team member to throw over a bad shot.

Wolf

Wolf is a bit odd to follow when you first play it. Ideally it is played with an odd number of players as a group, commonly 5. The person designated as the wolf for the hole waits for each other person to tee off. After each person drives, he can take him as his partner for that hole, or pass. The other players are then the opposing team. If he doesn't select any player, the last person to drive is his partner by default. Each person has an even number of turns to play as the wolf. Scores are kept individually. The wolf always throws last.

Each player's score is taken from his team's score.

Later in the game there is strategy involved. For example, in order to keep a contender from taking the lead, he can be selected as the partner, insuring the wolf and the contender score the same on a hole.

One variation on the rule is that the wolf may elect to play individually against the other players, as "lone" wolf.

Stay away from worst shot in a random draw situation. It can work out poorly if a good player gets paired with a poor player. The good player will become irrelevant. I could possibly see playing alternate shot doubles.

We played Australian rules doubles one time where the "partners" get switched around. We did that one time with a group of three. Wolf is pretty interesting but there is a bit of extra score keeping involved.

You should at least take a buck from everyone for an ace pool. That can build up fast and makes a nice payout if you get one.

We do a game here on the last sunday of each month called Diablo Doubles, 6 holes of worst shot, 6 holes of alternating shot, and 6 holes of best shot......666....Though Jim is right about worst shot in random draw, sucks to get paired with a below average player....oh wait....that would be me...

The beauty of Best Shot is everyone understands it and it is popular, most players like it. It is easily adaptable to groups of diverse talents. The more diverse the talents of the group, the more Best Shot is a good choice. The more similar the skills, the more you can get away with the harder formats (alternate shot, tough shot, etc.)

For years I ran a doubles league and created games based on the number of players and their skill level, trying to make the fairest game possible. I learned that the Pros hated this. Pros expect to win if they play well. They don't like handicapping even though it pushes them to play well. So Pros prefer random draw to a Pro/Am split. They want the chance to draw a top partner too.

The problem with Pro/Am doubles is the constant hassle deciding who fits in which group. The benefit is that it is fairer. Oh and you may drive the Pros away. After a couple of weeks of a Pro playing well but not cashing with a weak partner they may not return.

The presence of Pros (or the best players in the area by whatever term) is valuable to a league. Not so much for prestige (and certainly not for charm :) but because lesser players can learn from them. Even a Pro who has no interest in sharing tips with others still can be learned from, just by watching them. The fastest way to improve is by playing with better players so everyone benefits by attracting the Pros.

So while keeping the Pros somewhat happy what else can be done to aid the lesser or beginning players and make the process just a bit fairer? Several things. Say there are true beginners or Amateur women with much less power than the average guy. You can allow these players to throw from shorter tee pads. You can combine the two weakest players together as one (so that team will be a 3 member team while everyone else is a 2 some). This is also a way to resolve an odd number of players others than a Cali ( aka Odd Dog, etc.). You can give the weakest players mulligan(s).

By helping out the weakest/newest players it makes them more valuable to a team and therefore more accepted by their teammate. Unfortunately some Pros treat weak players like them have a disease or something.

You can limit the number of drives used per round from one player ( so, for example, one member's drives can only be used for 12 holes). You can force the Pros to throw rollers on X number of holes (depending on the course and how many roller friendly holes there are). You can disallow solo deuces (so if one member drives the other has to make the putt).

Another option is 3 man teams. If the numbers and skills break down properly, sometimes each team can have one Pro and 2 Ams.

Best Score is a good game. Both partners play singles but you only record the best score on each hole for the team.

Blind skins is a good twist. Every player puts a buck in the blind skins pot. The teams play best shot. After the round the cards are checked to see if anyone threw a skin (the single best score on a hole). So say hole # 6 is a really tough hole and only one team deuced it, they win a skin ( typically aces don't count as a skin since there is a separate ace pool). Divide the number of skins by the pool and that is the payout. If no skins were hit it carries over to the next week.

The most important aspect of the format is that the players like it, so whatever you do, seek feedback from the group.

Best shot doubles is by far the beat league format IMHO. We also do play singles and allow for lesser players to go for the B pool. That way they can compete against others of the same skill level. If they win the B pool too many times they are bumped to the A pool.

For best shot doubles we really don't do any sort of handicapping other than giving three strokes to a B pool player who gets Cali or the same for two B pool players who get paired together. It simply isn't fair to give three strokes to an individual who then gets paired with the best player. Our best player could probably beat all of the teams by himself. One time he drew Cali, paid in the extra five bucks in order to get two shots per hole, and proceeded to get the course record of 18 down by getting 16 birdies and one ace. He parred one hole and from what I heard barely missed hitting a long putt on that hole.

Best shot doubles has a way of evening the playing field just because of the format. It is rare that one team will run away with it. Often the winning score will be one or two clear of the next best pair. And of course with random draw you always have the chance of drawing the best player or the worst player out there. If you draw the worst player you just have to hone your skills and see if you can be the anchor for the team. Sometimes you will also draw a partner who doesn't "gel" with you and that can be difficult. When you get a partner that shares good "chemistry" with you a low round can be had.

I am also not a fan of trying to "equalize" the game. Talent and good shots should be rewarded. A friend of mine insists that we should find a way to encourage lesser players to come out for league. If this involves handicapping or trying to "level the playing field" then I am against it because as Mark said the better players like to be tested with no strings attached and they like to have their talent rewarded. If you want bad players to come out for league then maybe you should just pay them to show up or pay out for the worst score. Of course nobody would like that at all.

We have a competitive league here and I hope that it stays that way. Quite a few of the good players come out for league and it is always challenging and fun. The Ace Pool is also a nice incentive to play. We had all kinds of people show up for league when our Ace Pool got over $500.

The Pike's Peak club site referenced in in Jim's post above does not do a great job of explaining the games to be tested by the league. It looks like it has Safari Holes, 1 Disc Doubles and Alternate Shot Dbls.

Some games work better than others for particular purposes. Whatever the game it should be fun and develop a useful skill.

Safari Holes are cool. Most people play the same course time after time, honing a very small number of shots. Put them on a different course and the shots they have memorized may do little to prepare them for the new challenges. Safari holes let you use a home course and create new holes so you learn new shots.

Not all Safari Holes are good holes. Some are dumb with no fairways, playing through swamps and thickets. So Safari Holes, like any other, need to be well chosen/designed. Safari Holes are best when the course/playing area is vacant (for safety and speed of play reasons). Safari Holes would be unworkable for a large league on a crowded course.

One Disc formats (you must use the same disc for every shot) allow you to expand the usefulness of one disc and to learn that one disc much better. The problem is this skill does not transfer well. If I learn to putt with a driver how does this help me in my next tournament? Not all skills are all that useful. The quirkier the skill (throwing opposite handed rollers while blindfolded) the less it transfers. A much faster and more useful way to learn one disc is to take it out and practice with it.

Alternate Shot Doubles are challenging. You find yourself in spots you don't normally throw from (as you must use your partner's drive) and it is a mental challenge to recover from your partner's bad shots (we always blame ourselves less than others). Another advantage is speed of play (fewer shots take less time). The downside is you walk the whole course and throw half of it. And your scores suffer compared to Best Shot, so the frustration level is higher, placing the onus on the weaker partner.

I enjoy playing Safari. Often times we just do it casually and rotate as to who gets to pick the next Safari hole. Safari doubles can be fun.

I'm just not a big fan of "gimmick" golf where you do something different just to say that you did. We then risk devolving into something like miniature golf where you have to shoot through the clown. While that may be both fun and interesting it doesn't in the end translate into real world skills which could be useful (as Mark mentioned). I'm not sure what to make of this new effort at a new league. We have a decent Sunday league right now where we play best shot doubles. It is quite popular and everyone throws in $5 (and $1 for the Ace Pool). These "equalization" schemes just don't do it for me and as Mark mentioned previously the Pro players probably won't care too much for it. We shall see. I will still be going to Doubles on Sunday and I also plan on running a Doubles league on Thursdays in the summer. People show up to play best shot doubles.